<p>As I wrote in great length, your friend and her family will choose how they handle all of this. The fear of being on a list, on file, on record as well as possible cost of reporting income as well as chance of audit are often the reasons why some people choose not to report these things. But the right thing to do at this point is to get a number, gather what proof of earning the mom has in 2013, report the earnings for taxes, file tax return, pay taxes if any owed, and then use that info on fin aid forms.</p>
<p>Rant warning: God forbid an illegal immigrant should have to pay social security, medicaid or income taxes in order for their kid to apply for financial aid, and, possibly a full ride. Meanwhile, many of us dual-income, full-time working parents are expected to pay every dime for our kids’ college educations, even when we can’t afford to, plus pay income taxes to finance financial aid for other’s college educations. I feel so bad for the kids whose parents have put them in this predicament and are unwilling to play by the rules that the rest of us abide by. It must be humiliating. (My grandparents were legal immigrants who worked their entire lives IN the system and they worked like dogs to improve their own lot. No aid, ever. Oh, and they had to learn English to survive!)</p>
<p>A low-income parent is not likely to need to pay taxes, you know, part of the 47 percent. The parent may be eligible for credits that will cover the cost of self-employment social security and medicaid.</p>
<p>@baseballmom, except for a very, very few highly selective schools, there is no free ride for a low-income kid, and it’s not easy to live on a low income. Probably a very low income. These schools have decided to support low-income applicants. Don’t like it? Have your kid apply to schools where the big bucks go to merit aid that your kid qualifies for.</p>
<p>It is much, much more difficult, often impossible, to qualify for legal immigration than it was for the grandparents of parents of current high school and college students. As it says on the Statue of Liberty,
</p>
<p>But those days are over. No more golden door for poor immigrants. </p>
<p>OP, I hope your friend got the answers she needed.</p>
<p>@oldmom4896 It doesn’t matter whether I like it or not, it’s a fact that my tax dollars pay for financial aid for those who can’t pay. I said “possibly a free ride”. No, my kids do not qualify for merit aid. Why do you assume they do? Because I’m “rich” in your eyes? Who cares about the inscription on the statue of liberty? It relates to legal European immigration of 90-150 years ago when the US was in the on the brink or in the midst of the industrial revolution. This country’s infrastructure was built by those immigrants and its factories were filled with them. The US can no longer support its own poor, never mind those illegally pouring into the country, or arriving legally and never leaving. </p>
<p>I feel for this kid whose parents have put her/him in a humiliating and uncertain, uncomfortable position. </p>